Learning How To Live
by Whisper1
Summary: A girl who has lived in a rich society looses a father and is moved to a small town. Will she let the people teach her what it's really like to live? This is a newsie story, but it'll take another chapter to introduce them.


This is a story about friendship, about trust, and about doing everything in your power to hold onto what you have. This story shows how everything can change with every breath we take. This is a story about life. It takes place in an average town, with average people. All of them looking for someone to lean on and learning that to be a true friend, you have to be able to close your eyes and jump, trusting that your friend will be there to catch you.  
Chelsea was an average teen, so what makes her story worth telling? It's the journey she took and the people she touched and that touched her along the way. It's the friendships that were formed and the risks that were taken. But, to tell you about the journey, you will need to know how it all began.  
It began in New York. The Ruckers were a wealthy family who loved to flaunt their money. They had two daughters. Natasha, the oldest, was 19. She was about 5'7" with a very curvy and muscular figure and very pale skin. Natasha had curly black hair which went down to the small of her back, steely gray eyes that had a hint of violet in them and high cheekbones. Chelsea was the younger sister, 17 years old. She was shorter than Natasha was, her height being 5'4, and her hair was very plain. It was a light brown and was only shoulder length. Her eyes were a dark green. She wasn't the thinnest person and her mother never let her forget that. Christina Lee Rucker, the name made Chelsea shiver. Don't get me wrong, Chelsea loved her mother to pieces and had many happy memories with her, but the moment her father walked out on the three of them, Christina Lee changed. She was grouchy most of the time and became demanding. Everything had to be perfect, right down the dresses her daughters wore, and the way their hair was done. It's safe to say that Christina Lee was a perfectionist. Most of the time Chelsea would just dismiss her behavior, knowing that when her father left, it had hurt her mother very much. Natasha took after her mother, leaving Chelsea to often feel like the outsider. But, most of this was just ordinary family issues.  
A few weeks after her husband left her, Christina Lee made the decision that she was going to move her family to a different place, and get a fresh start on a new life. After a lot of thought, she decided to move her family to a small town in Canada called Echo Bay. Natasha took the news a lot better than Chelsea, who locked herself in her room the moment she heard of the move, and vowed not to leave until her mother changed her mind. Unfortunately, her mother didn't change her mind and the move happened.  
" But mother, I do not want to have to start my life over again. I liked the way things were starting to go in New York. Besides, what if the teenagers are vile, how will I survive?" Chelsea inquired in a whiny voice.  
" You will learn to adapt. That's the way life goes." Chelsea sighed at this. When they arrived at their new house, Chelsea realized just how small this town was. But, before she had time to explore, her mother made her unpack everything in her room. A few hours later, Chelsea was so anxious to go outside.  
"Mother please!! I've been stuck in this house all day!" Finally, after a long pause, her mother just nodded her head. Chelsea was extremely excited. She put on her best burgandy dress and white gloves with a matching bonnet. When she walked out of her house, the street looked abandonded. Not knowing which way to go Chelsea turned right and decided to walk that way until she found something interesting. It took her about five minutes to find the first sign of life, which happened to be an elderly couple sitting on a bench just outside of a convienice store. She was about to approach them and ask them where the ideal place would be in this town to meet people her age when she heard a wierd sound. Suddenly, what looked like a mini car came rushing around the convienience store. With a closer look, Chelsea saw that it was a wooden car with a small boy in it and an older boy pushing it, making car sounds. Following them were three girls and another older boy. The boy pushing the car stopped it right in front of the store.  
"That was great! When can we do it again?" exclaimed the boy in the car. The boy who pushed the car gasped.  
"Whenever I catch my breath." He sighed and sat down, leaning on the car. One of the girls sat down beside him, and started talking to him. It was then that Chelsea noticed something odd about these teenagers. The girls were all wearing pants and 2 of them had their hair up in a sloppy ponytail, the other one had her hair down and it looked very messy. The girls also looked like they had been playing in the dirt, the boys looked the same way. Chelsea was speechless, if she had ever looked that way, her mother would have a fit. Those teenagers were acting in an immature and uncivil way, and it intimidated Chelsea a bit. It wasn't long until one of the girls saw Chelsea.  
"Hey, can we help you with something?" Knocking Chelsea out of her thoughts, she did the only thing that she could think of. She turned around and ran home. If she had stuck around any longer, she would have heard one of the girls call her hoity toity. She ran throught the door and slammed it by accident. Wait until her mother heard this. She told her mother that the people her age could be vile and disgusting and she turned out to be right. Or at least she thought she was. Chelsea couldn't get the thought out of her head. Those teenagers seemed to be having fun, and in a way, Chelsea wished she could join them. So instead of telling her mom about them, she just went to her room and pulled out a book to read. 


End file.
